Betting Preview: Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic

The DP World Tour is back and congratulations to Thomas Pieters on his first Rolex Series win last week. Congratulations to you too if you happened to be on him at prices of around 35/1 pre-tournament.

Some of last week’s predictions came true, namely that it was a week to take on the favourites at prices of between 7/1 and 25/1.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by DP World Tour (@dpworldtour)

Sunday gave us hope of a place with both Justin Harding and Sam Horsfield in the mix. Unfortunately, neither player was quite able to make the run up the leaderboard that we needed, with Horsfield eventually finishing 2 shots outside of the places in T12, and Harding 2 shots further back in T25.

It was still a week to be positive and if you read yesterday’s first look you’ll know that this is a completely different tournament because of its long history at the same course. With that in mind, we have two selections at shorter prices this week plus one longer shot. But first, let’s check the weather.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic (@slyncddc)

The Weather

This course is quite exposed as it sits along the coast of the UAE, very close to the Palm Jumeirah. The conditions for Thursday are calm with maximum winds of just 10 km/h expected.

Calm gusts are expected Friday morning as well, with the wind picking up Friday afternoon and expected to hit the mid 20 km/h range.

This may favour players playing Friday morning but with forecasts also predicting winds in the mid 20 km/h range on Saturday and Sunday, you could equally argue the case that it may be an advantage to have been out on Friday afternoon to experience the course in those conditions.

With that in mind, we’re going slightly against the grain (and wind) with our opening two selections.

Shane Lowry (2pts e/w @ 28/1)

Shane Lowry is out on Thursday morning and Friday afternoon which means he’ll face the slightly tougher test on Friday. That said, I don’t see that as much of a problem for Shane.

Although he said last week in an interview that gusty links courses are not exactly his favourite, he still does well on them.

In contention last week and favourite before he teed off on Sunday, Shane started with an unfortunate triple bogey to really scupper his chances of winning. At a course just an hour down the road in similar conditions, I expect Shane to go close again this week. At a better price of 28/1 after a good week, I think we can get on board.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Shane Lowry (@shanelowrygolf)

Bernd Wiesberger (2pts e/w @ 30/1)

Bernd is another player out Thursday morning and Friday afternoon. Another player that I like at the top end of the market, it’s interesting to note that Bernd qualified automatically for the Ryder Cup ahead of Shane Lowry last year, with Padraig Harrington having to use his captain’s pick to bring his fellow Irishman along to Whistling Straits.

Padraig Harrington also spoke last week about Bernd Wiesberger during an interview at the Abu Dhabi Championship, saying he thinks Bernd needs to believe in himself a bit more to become a top, top player.

I wonder if the most recent Ryder Cup captain had a word in his ear last week, one that gives DP World Tour staple Bernd the push he needs to go on and win this week. That said, Bernd is a prolific winner on the DP World Tour having won 8 times and it’s important to note that one of those wins was a Rolex Series event — the 2019 Scottish Open.

I think Bernd is a good accompaniment to Shane Lowry and hopefully him and his fellow Ryder Cup teammate can duel it out at the top of the leaderboard this week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by berndwiesberger (@berndwiesberger)

Thomas Detry (1pt e/w @ 60/1)

The world works in mysterious ways sometimes. You often here people talk about players of the same nationality winning the week after a fellow countryman.

Last year took that to a whole new level when we saw the Danish Højgaard twins win back to back on the DP World Tour, with Nicolai winning the Italian Open the week after his brother Rasmus had won the Omega European Masters.

Thomas Detry was there last week to congratulate Thomas Pieters on his win, and I fancy the Belgian to take some of those good vibes and put them to use this week. At a cracking 60/1, he offers value on the Belgian double.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Thomas Detry (@tomdetry)

Your Picks

If you are having a bet this week, the very best of luck. Is there anyone else you fancy who we haven’t named above? Please do let us know in the comments.

Odds

The odds quoted are at the time of writing. Please shop around for the best prices and place terms for you.

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Cover Image Via Instagram